


Gracie: A Dog's Purpose

by goddess_of_time_and_magic



Category: Ghost Adventures (TV)
Genre: AU, Break Up, Dogs, Established Relationship, Fluff, Get back together, Gracie - Freeform, Love, M/M, Nick really hates it when Zak gels his hair, Secret Relationship, Unrequited Love, fluff all the way, lockdown - Freeform, mushy gooshiness, puppy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 03:02:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9949262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddess_of_time_and_magic/pseuds/goddess_of_time_and_magic
Summary: Dogs have always been Zak’s weak spot and, one investigation, Nick finds a lost, white puppy wondering the old building. (The origin story of Gracie AU)





	

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/157063067@N06/36246292625/in/dateposted-public/)

            The pup was small. Clearly, it was the runt of the litter and so its mother pushed it out, leaving it to the workings of nature. It stared up at him with wide, white-blue eyes, ears flattened on the back of its small head. Nick saw no signs of a collar ever being around its neck and so gently reached out to it. The pup’s eyes watched his hand as it moved closer and closer to its body. It growled lightly, but the sound was more adorable rather than ferocious. Nick smiled down at it.

            “It’s okay,” he spoke softly, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

            It growled again and barked. Nick chucked lightly at the small creature. Nick watched it like a hawk, continuing to try and reach out and touch it. The pup’s white-blue eyes glanced at the hand and then turned away from him. He took this as a sign of submission and reached out to touch it. The pup’s fur was coarse and matted with dirt and its skin vibrated with fear. His fingers were gentle as he tried to sooth it. Nick knew with time, and proper bath, that the fur would silky and soft. It reminded Nick, suddenly, of another animal that had the same texture: Zak Bagans’ hair.

            Nick’s boyfriend of six years had probably the softest hair in the world and, of course, being who he was, Zak went and covered his locks in gel. Nick _really_ hated it when Zak did that. Just then, Nick had an idea and, looking down at the pup, he knew what he had to do.

            Gently, he moved his other hand toward the pup and picked it up. It growled and bit lightly at his fingers, but they were tiny bites and the creature barely had any teeth in its mouth.

            “Oh, hush, girl,” Nick cooed and resumed his petting of the creature. The pup calmed down quickly.

            Nick made his way back to their tent, forgetting that he was supposed to be grabbing the voice recorder. Aaron, Billy, and Jay were gone investigating other areas of the building, leaving Zak by himself at Command, their small tent. Freeing one of his hands, Nick parted the entrance to the tent and stepped in. His boyfriend was hunched over, blue eyes staring intently at the computer screen, “Babe?”

            Zak turned, startled at the younger man’s presence, “Nick! Shh! Aaron, Billy, and Jay might hear you!”

            Nick motioned toward the computer, where the three other man’s figures could easily be seen, “They’re busy at the moment, which I’m glad for.”

            At that moment, Nick revealed the small pup in his arms to his boyfriend. The white creature stared at the other man, unblinking and surprisingly calm. Nick watched as Zak came toward him, eyes a blend of confusion, wonder, and surprise.

            “Where did you get it?” Zak asked as he carefully raised his hand toward the dog.

            “Found her just now,” and Nick remembered at that moment what he was supposed to be doing, “Fuck! I forgot the recorder!” he made for the tent flap, but Zak stopped him.

            “It’s alright,” and Zak gently touched the animals fur. Nick was surprised when the pup made no sounds or moved away from the hand.

            “She likes you,” Nick noted.

            Zak smiled tenderly, “I wonder if she belongs to anyone.”

            “Probably not,” Nick said, his own fingers softly combing through the pup’s fur, “She doesn’t look like a pet,” she bent her head back as Zak’s combed through the fur on her neck.

            “I’ll take her to the vet in the morning, just in case.”

            “I’ll come, too,” Nick replied with a small smile of his own. Deep down, he hoped that no one had claim on the dog; he could see how much Zak really liked her. Zak continued to pet her and Nick felt his arms grew heavy, so he said, “Here, take her. My arms are starting to hurt.”

            The pup crawled into Zak’s arms with ease and Nick watched as she even gave the older man a small lick, “I feel like I should give you a name.”

            “Nothing hard to say,” Nick warned teasingly knowing that his boyfriend would do something exactly like that.

            Zak scoffed, “Nah,” and he thought for a moment, “I was thinking of Gracie,” and he looked at the younger man, “What do you think?”

            Nick glanced down at the pup; she stared up at him with those large, white-blue eyes of hers, “Perfect.”

 **﴿﴾﴾﴿﴿﴾** **⸎﴿﴾﴾﴿﴿﴾** **⸎﴿﴾﴾﴿﴿﴾** **⸎﴿﴾﴾﴿﴿﴾**

**_Three Years Later…_**

It was a cool summer day in Las Vegas. The desert wind blew in from the mountains, cooling the hot city, and the clouds floated across the sky like giant marshmallows. A red frisbee flew across the scene and a hyper, young, white dog barked, chasing after it. Her owner was laughing as she jumped, caught it, and tumbled to the ground. He hadn’t laughed like that in many months.

            “Come here, Gracie!” the older man called out, hunching down to her level.

            The white dog looked at the man and her tail began to wave. The younger man, looking on at the scene, thought sarcastically that she was going to wag her butt off with all the force she was putting behind it.

            “Gracie, come here, girl!” the older man called out again.

            Gracie went rushing toward him, red frisbee held within her jaws; it was almost too big for her mouth. But, just as she was about to go to the older man, her white-blue eyes connected with the younger man behind him. She went rushing off, tail wagging persistently.

            Zak Bagans gave an exasperated sigh and stood up. It had been three years since he and Nick split and, honestly, this was the first time he ever felt happy since then. It wasn’t _really_ his fault that they split, but he was partially to blame. Now, all that Zak had left of him was his dog.

            Turning around, his blue eyes landed on a tall stranger. Gracie, the red frisbee at her feet, yelped at the younger man with a wagging tail and sparkling eyes. Zak felt there was something familiar about the man and, as he got closer, he saw that there was.

            “Nick?”

            The stranger looked at him and smiled. It was Nick; of which, Zak had no doubt, but the young man had aged and not so gracefully, Zak noted. Zak, though, liked how the man’s age laid on his flesh. Nick looked rougher in a sexy way.

            His hair had grown slightly longer and brushed the tips of his ears. His brown eyes were deeper, old, and kind. But, the dark shadow that hung around the younger man’s mouth drew his eyes in. Zak knew that Nick had been trying to grow a goatee, but it never seemed to hold long. Yet, here he was with a full goatee and rising, sharp cheekbones with delicious-looking lips parted in a smile.

            “Hey, Zak.”

            Gracie yelped at Nick’s feet, her wet muzzle gently tossing his hand as she begged for his attention. The desert wind ruffled the trees around them and Zak’s hair fell from its gel hold. He ran a stubborn hand through it and Nick chuckled at him.

            “I see you still ‘stylize’ your hair?” he asked with his charming smile.

            “Yep,” Zak simply replied and, after a couple more tires, he gave control over to the wind.

            Gracie barked again at Nick’s feet. The said man looked down at her and back at Zak, “May I?” Zak nodded and watched as Nick bent over to pick up the red frisbee at his feet. The older man couldn’t help but trace the other man’s narrow hips that he remembered bruising with his fingers and those strong legs that wrapped around his waist. He unconsciously licked his lips. He couldn’t believe he let _this_ go. Nick rose; Zak’s eyes watching as he tossed the frisbee into the air. Gracie raced off, following its red trail across the blue sky.

            “What are you doing here, Nick?” Zak asked.

            Nick turned to look at him, brown eyes glistening like topaz jewels in the desert sun, “I was in town on business and thought I’d stop by to see how Gracie was doing.”

            Zak accepted that explanation, but he was confused, “How did you know I was here?”

            Nick smiled, “I wasn’t stalking you, you know?” Zak simply raised an eyebrow, “I went to the house,” Zak noted how Nick said “the house” and not “your house,” “And saw you weren’t there and so I figured you came here.”

            “Okay, _Sherlock_ ,” Zak teased and Gracie, suddenly, came up between them with her frisbee in her mouth, “How long you staying here for?”

            “Not long,” Nick replied as he looked away and threw the frisbee again for Gracie.

            “Oh,” Zak replied and he hit himself mentally for how disappointed he sounded. He didn’t want Nick thinking he was upset about him leaving _‘cause I’m not,_ he thought.

            Zak watched as his dog caught the red disk with ease, once more tumbling to the ground. Neither man laughed, though, this time. Nick gave a sigh, turning to look at the older male, “Zak?”

            “Hmm?” he tore his eyes away from Gracie and, when he saw the look in Nick’s eyes, his eyes were covered in confusion.

            “I lied about my reason for coming here,” Nick confessed.

            Zak’s eyes became angry blue for being lied to, “Then, why are you here?”

            Nick sighed, “You, Zak.”

            “What?” the syllables were sharp and pointed as they left Zak’s mouth.

            “I can’t handle the way we left each other, my love. All those harsh words,” Nick said with sincere sorrow, “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

            “Is that all?” Zak spat angrily. First, the man he loved confessed hateful things to him and left. Second, that said man reappears back in his life as Zak was just getting over his mourning of that man. Thirdly, he is lied to by the said man. Fourthly, Nick confesses to still loving him. Of course Zak Bagans was angry!

            Nick looked at the older man in alarm, “What? What else were you expecting?”

            _Did he think I was expecting something different?_ Zak thought, _Of course_ I _did. I wanted him to know that I want him_ , he confessed so easily in his mind, but speaking those words were a different matter, “Something other than that!” and here comes those vague answers that drove Nick and Zak to fight in the first place.

            “What is it, Zak?” Nick yelled and he knew they were starting to get strange looks from the few strangers that were out and about in the park.

            “You know exactly what I’m talking about!” Zak fired back. _Why did he have to make this so difficult_ , he thought _, Then again, why did I have to make it so hard?_

            Gracie came up between the two arguing men, soft whines coming from her muzzle as if she was trying to stop their fighting.

            “No! I don’t!” Nick argued.

            “You know _exactly_ what I want!”

            Gracie whined again and Nick fired one last question that made Zak give in, “Then what do you want, Zak?”

            “You.”

 **﴿﴾﴾﴿﴿﴾** **⸎﴿﴾﴾﴿﴿﴾** **⸎﴿﴾﴾﴿﴿﴾** **⸎﴿﴾﴾﴿﴿﴾**

            Gracie lay comfortably on the sofa, the cool leather felt nice against her hot white fur. Add the soft winds blowing in from outside through the open screen door, she was in absolute heaven.

            “I think she looks cuter, now, than when she was a pup,” Nick commented.

            “Yea, and twice the trouble,” Zak replied, his long fingers running through the other man’s hair, the brown strands soft to the touch. He looked down at the younger man and smiled. He was lucky he got a second chance with the man he loved, “Like Gracie, you look even hotter with age.”

            Nick shifted his head on Zak’s lap so he looked up at those bright blue eyes, “Did you just compare me to a dog?”

            Zak smirked and leaned down, “Gracie’s cuter,” and their lips connected.

            Zak could feel Nick’s laughter against his flesh. Gracie looked up at the pair when Nick made an odd sound and the two men missed the glistening in her white-blue eyes. She seemed to grin at them, for a moment, and her tail wagged back and forth causing a loud noise. The two men tore away from each other at the sound. They began to laugh.

            “Looks like someone’s happy we’re back together,” Zak commented.

            “You know, if I never found her, we’d still be split,” Nick replied.

            “Yea,” and Zak looked down at his boyfriend, “I’m glad you did.”

            Nick smiled softly, “So do I.”

            And, as the fairy tales say, they lived happily ever after.


End file.
